A man was charged today with threatening a judge, presiding over the Family Court, by telling her that if she ordered him to leave his matrimonial home he would go and sleep outside her house.

Vincent Martin Carabott, 57, of Birkirkara pleaded not guilty to threatening Madam Justice Abigail Lofaro at the Law Courts on January 8 and relapsing.

Police Inspector Sylvana Briffa exhibited the recording of the court sitting when the threats were allegedly made by Mr Carabott who said he was an education officer within the Education Department.

Lawyer Tonio Azzopardi, representing the accused, asked Magistrate Josette Demicoli for a ban on the publication of his client's case. He said the case concerned a Family Court sitting during which the judge had to decide whether to order Mr Carabott to leave his matrimonial home.

During the sitting, Dr Azzopardi said, the accused said that if he was made to leave the matrimonial home he would go and live outside "her" door. The lawyer insisted that the accused did not intend those words as a threat but, rather, as an expression of concern about his state if asked to leave his home.

"If it was understood as a threat, this was never the intention," the lawyer insisted.

The inspector objected to the ban on publication arguing that there were no legal grounds why the case should not be reported. She added that police investigations showed that Mr Carabott's words were threats that could cause the judge to fear doing her job.

She added that Mr Carabott insisted with police, during the investigation, that he would do what he said during the sitting. "He said that, if he feels the need, he will go and sleep outside the judge's door," she said.

Magistrate Josette Demicoli turned down the request for the ban on publication and ordered that the accused be remanded in custody.